Microwave ovens are able to effectively heat and cook a wide variety of food stuffs. One exception has been food products that require cooking in a liquid, e.g., pasta cooked in water. Cooking of pasta, especially spaghetti, typically requires stirring of the pasta, and frequent oversight to prevent foam from boiling over edges of the cooking pan.
Cooking pasta is frequently associated with the traditional “stove top” cooking that requires multiple large cooking utensils that are typically round and require human interactions throughout the pasta cooking process which is, add water and wait for the water to boil, add the pasta and stir occasionally until the water starts boiling again, occasionally stir the pasta and test pasta texture until cooked and then strain the pasta. Traditional “Stove-top” method for cooking pasta is described by 1) Filling a large pot with water, 2) Place on stove and wait for the water to boil, 3) Add pasta to boiling water and wait until pasta softens, 4) Stir pasta and wait for water to boil. 5) Continue to stir the pasta and check texture until cooked, 6) Place strainer in sink, 7) Carry the large pot filled with the boiling water and drain pasta into the strainer.
After cooking the pasta the food preparer has multiple large cooking utensils to wash that make cleanup burdensome. Consumer preference, however, is to cook the pasta in one small container, using less amounts of water and energy in less time and without the need for human interaction during the cooking process. After cooking the pasta the food preparer would prefer to wash one small container in an automatic dishwasher rather than hand-cleaning several large cooking utensils.
Multipurpose microwave food containers are intended to reheat and cook a variety of processed or precooked foods or chilled or frozen foods. Multipurpose microwave food containers lack geometric and physical features that meet the cooking requirements and physical size of elongated pasta noodles such as spaghetti, linguini, fettucini, or lasagna. The physical shape of multipurpose food containers cannot contain elongated pasta noodles without breaking or cutting the pasta to fit the multipurpose food container shape. Multipurpose microwave food containers lack the geometric features to control the boiling of water in a manner to agitate the noodles during the cooking process, still requiring the food preparer to periodically stir the pasta while the pasta is being cooked.
Therefore, there is a need for a device that effectively cooks pasta in a microwave oven which addresses the concerns described hereinabove.